Thursday, January 31, 2013

I was super pissed the cops released this without telling us! A secretary at my work asked me if that was us. I wrote a letter of complaint to the captain and he apologized. So between the responding cop not noting we were on surveillance video in his report and releasing this without telling us they've been pretty Barney Fife overall. The idea that anyone could glean anything from this video is pretty sad. I know they don't have shit to go on but I don't think it was worth releasing this at all. And now the guy on the video (who has our address) might have the thought that we could identify him. You might think that is paranoid but remember the fact that he almost killed someone for her purse, if it's the same guy, which I think is likely.

On the more cheerful topics.I am SUPER STOKED on Peter Stegall's show opening tomorrow at Bows. Here's my piece for the SNR. My only info on him from seeing him at Flats shows was that he was an old-timey guy so I was blown away by the modernity and sophistication of his art. This guy is the real deal and he has the experience of a lifetime behind his color work. He is going to be djing from his collection of 78s, as well. Come out!!

And in other Bows news: the Four Eyes and Scouse Gits are playing Bows on Saturday. What a show!

I ate dinner at Magpie last night for the first time in forever. Fuck, it was so good. It is pricey for a casual night o ut, though. We had a 50 dollar gift certificate so that eliminated the pain. We each had two drinks, one salad between us, and two entrees and with tip it was closer to 100 than 50. Without the gift certificate I would have gotten a cheaper entree. Let me tell you that the Firestone Union Jack they have on right now is the most incredibly good beer I have tasted in a while. Scott was tripping because Union Jack never tastes like that, so check it out, it might just be a fluke. He though the hops were like lemon verbena, I thought a little closer to elderflower.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Judging the baconfest bacon contest was very fun. In addition to Chris Macias we had Darrell Corti this year, as well as a woman from the pork board and a woman who went to every event this year. She was quite slim, since you asked.

There was an onslaught of food, and I requested a tumbler of bourbon as a palate cleanser. Crap, I don;'t have time to post, I'll sum it up: Magpie swept with the audience award, best dish, and best bacon. They were pretty much the only ones truly thinking outside the box and cutting all the fat and sweet flavors with brightness and acidity in the form of kumquat, kimchee and making lean-ish pastrami bacon and lean miso bacon.

Darrell was great to work with and very gracious about just contributing to the votes. I still felt like we should defer to him, but he didn't expect it.

Friday, January 25, 2013

I was going to post about a fb thing going on about one of my reviews, and then I realized that if I and everyone else starts shit talking on here, it would lead to someone linking to this post on fb. So never mind. It's for Broderick if you want to look, but please don't comment about it here.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Can you believe we're going to have to suffer through this King's shit until April at least? I am so sick of hearing about it that I hope we keep them and they build a goddamn arena where the mall is. It won't even effect me and I don't care anymore.

In L.A. we also went to a Korean bathhouse called WiSpa. It has a downstairs women's area, a middle co-ed, clothed, area, and a top men's area. It is pretty crazy. You get a yellow shorts/tshirt uniform for the middle area and there are tons of families and kids chilling there. There's a heated floor and pads on the floor for lounging. There's a little cafe. There are multiple saunas on that floor, including one with small terra cotta balls and a tv playing korean shows. Other ones are pink salt, or plain and tiled with geode, or super super hot. There is a cold room but it's really j ust a big freezer and smells like one.

The women's area is mostly naked and there are tons of showers, a wet sauna (which I love!) and dry. And hot pools and cold pools. You can also get massages or oil rubs. There are moms with their little girls. Some of them are sleeping on couches. You can also rent sleep rooms and stay all night. You could basically live there if youw anted.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Spent the weekend in L.A., or to be more specific: Val Verde, Topanga Canyon, San Pedro, Koreatown, and Altadena. Whirlwind tour.

I went to a restaurant in K-Town called Yan Bian. I used Jonathan Gold's writing about K-Town to decide where to go and I wish I had more than one stomach to devote to that endeavor. I only had three meals there! Yan Bian is a small area of China butted up against North Korea. They have a version of their traditional dog soup that is made with lamb, but it was really fucking hot in L.A. so I ordered t heir cold noodle soup. I've had this icy style of soup once before and it's the best for hot days. It's a tangy, spicy broth with that crushed kind of soda ice in it. It also had slices of beef, stretchy buckwheat/wheat noodles and slices cucumbers. Somewhere in Sac, maybe more than one place, serves this. I last ate it during that insane heat wave we had a while back. Years ago. I also wish I could have tried their dumplings. Damn.

This place is called Pho Ever Yum. Pretty funny.

Korean fried chicken is so good! This is from a fast food place called Kyo Chan. There is another small chain called Chicken Day.

I forgot my camera on this trip, so the pictures are crappier than usual. This is a plate of pickles from Canters.

I got the Bronx Special, which is an open faced sandwich on rye with pastrami and chopped liver. And a fat slice of white onion,

Friday, January 18, 2013

Vanoni posted this. It's Tales of Terror from 1985 at the Stucco Factory. Victor Wong from Big Trouble in Little China can be seen cruising because his son Lyon Wong (who was murdered) is in the band. Also cruising around is his son Duncan Wong. He is now a big-time yoga dude who I heard used to be Madonna's yoga instructor.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Scott caught Huey Lewis and the News singing the national anthem before the big niners game. I can't find that one on youtube but apparently they've done it before. Best rendition ever, yes, including Whitney

Scouse Gits were AWESOME! Best show of 2013. Tristan and Matt K. were on fire. Foster is a wild front man, as you probably know, and I could stare at Stan pretty much forever just contemplating his very existence. He keeps it so real, as does AT, who looked magnificent. There was a Harley convention in town and some motorcycle club with Clamper colors flooded the bar. I was a little freaked out but the Scouse Gits cleared them out, which completely surprised me.

Soo...we took a cab to the club (only 13. 50 to West Sac, split three ways!) and got a ride home with JG. This is due to the shooting on Friday three blocks from my house. What shooting you say? I can understand because the Bee is completely not reporting on it. Sacramentopress is, however, and props to them! The woman was gravely injured, although I can't disclose how. So thanks, Sacbee, for writing a tiny online blurb that pretty much blamed her.

Went to see the new Jack Gallagher play at B street yesterday. It was s lightly interactive and WB pulled a move that got pretty much the biggest laugh in the house. People love an improv. It was enjoyable but not compelling. I think I might have enjoyed some of his other plays which dealt with serious family issues. He did pull the ol' heartstrings at one point and I teared up. WB and I agreed that we were mostly affected by this mention of death because it made it think of our own deaths. But isn't that the case in a lot of stories about death? No? Is it just us?

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Reggae Snowsplash! Tonight! See info below! It will be fun! I hear there will be fake pot brownies made by a local chef! Or are they fake? Only Jah can know.

I went to the comedy open mic at Bows last night. Holy fuck Ray Molina is funny! He hosts. I don't know if he did a set because I was a little late. He should do a set. My other favorite guy was Steven Ferris. I just friended him on facebook so I can keep up with where he's performing. I think he could really make it because he doesn't really do jokes, he is just funny and relaxed. The ultimate comedy goal is to get to be a guy who just makes you laugh by standing there. Relaxation is so key to having the audience on your side, too. Sure, there were some cringe moments. Only one first timer and he chewed gum really loudly and said "this is harder than it looks" but I've seen worse first timers. Ray made fun of his blazer and told him to not chew gum because it made him look like an asshole. Good constructive criticism. This guy Alfonso who works at Insight was also pretty funny. He's obviously really smart. He has a little way to go but he's only 22 so he will probably get there if he keeps it up.

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

That Apatow-edited issue of Vanity Fair is incredible! Nichols and May! Freaks and Geeks! The revelation that Larry Davis thinks that Martin Short is the funniest guy in the world (?!) It's hard to pick a best thing but Apatow interviewing Albert Brooks is up there. It got me watching old bits online, and sadly, there aren't many of his. This is a really good one.

Well, the Frontline episode "the education of Michelle Rhee", about KJ's wife, was interesting. She is pretty psycho, clearly, but they did not really present convincing evidence about the cheating on her watch as chancellor of DC schools. There was insinuation, but nothing beyond that.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Thank Jah, DJ Ronald Reggae and DJ Flashman will be DJing at leap in the dark on Thursday. I and I will be going. Don't worry, Ronald Reggae will ensure that the music is soft and pleasant enough for plenty of reasoning with your friends. An irie time will be had by all. Have a nice ital meal, smoke a little i-cense and come out and greet your bredren.

Monday, January 07, 2013

Man, Scott and I were in South Sac yesterday, and not even that deep in - at Pho Saigon and it was gnarly. I usually find South Sac to be not too gnarly, especially there and it was insane. Panhandled in the parking lot right off the bat, aggressively, and then watched a parade of zombie like dudes and hookers walk by. There was a guy with a bandage on his eye and his pants partially down was gesticulating and screaming in a way that was scaring me to go outside, but then he wandered away. It seems like it's gotten worse in that area, especially with just seeing hookers walking around. Maybe it was just the day or I was just noticing. We walked for a while downtown, too and I bet all-in-all I saw at least 75 homeless people. Do you think there are more around? Good thing the mayor's on the job! Right after he work on that gun buyback that will not actually happen.

Speaking of KJ the entire episode of Frontline tomorrow night is pretty much devoted to a takedown of her time in the DC school system.

I went through a phase of hating Steve Soderbergh, after my tween love of Sex Lies and Videotape, but now I am back to loving him. Did you know that in 24 years he's directed 27 movies, and that isn't even counting his work in TV and his huge role as a producer. That makes him one of the most prolific quality directors around. Most of his last few movies have been some of my recent favorites: The Informant (super underrated), Contagion (70s style super fun disaster movie), and yes, Magic Mike, which I watched this weekend. Any movie with this scene is an instant classic, IMO. This is not SFW. Inside information: the ladies actually ripped off Mcconaghuey's g string and you can see he is holding it on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQe5DieoJj4

Soderbergh has veered from big budget, super successful movies, some of which are crap and some of which are good, really good small movies, documentaries (two about Spalding Gray and two about Yes(!), two about Che, among others), and super improvised indie movies. I just watched the Girlfriend Experience and it pretty much sucks, but he went out on a limb and made a movie in two weeks for 2 million dollars, just as an experiment, and what major director is doing stuff like that these days. No one! Magic Mike clearly had a lot of improv in it, which is really fun and also makes it feel like a 70s movie. The female lead is not that skilled in it, but still, it makes her seem like a real person, a quality which is lacking for most female eye-candy roles these days.

The difference between him and some of the last quality directors is that he can finance his small projects with his big projects. The few I can think of are Solondz, P.T. Anderson and Wes Anderson. I think the lastter two guys made some money on their last movies so they are probably in good shape. Solondz career is pretty screwed. What other American directors are any good? I'd count Katherine Bigelow.

Friday, January 04, 2013

Dude, seriously fuck restaurants that only have a facebook page. Are you surprised I have such a strong opinion? You're probably used to it.

What's up this weekend? Anything? Why won't Zero Dark Thirty open here? Did I miss Amour, the new Michael Haneke film? That's such a generic name that I fear it came here for like a week and I missed it.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Last Sunday JD did a pop-up restaurant in Commonwealth bar in Oakland. He did four delicious stews. The beef carbonnade was by far the most popular, and I only tried that and the chicken chili verde soup (which was spicy and awesome). I mostly washed dishes and made tortillas. JD and EC did plating. JD also made a really good salad with butter lettuce and watercress. I've got to remember to use more watercress in my salads. I wonder if it can be grown in full sun. BTW, I grew mizuna in my garden, not shiso. Like anyone cares, but it's been bugging me that I made that misstatement.

I looked through a few recipes for corn tortillas (which are hard to make) and this review on epicurious cracked me up. I thought it was fake, but now I think it's real.

Well, I learned my lesson. Decided to drive to
our favorite summer retreat a day early and leave the plane for
transporting guests on Saturday for a southwestern feast. I made my
tortillas on Friday night. First using plastic it was a disaster.
Everything stuck, nothing rounded out, all of the problems listed. Then
I tried waxed paper as suggested. I was proud. Saturday however
brought high, extremely gusty winds, severe turbulence as well as a
wildfire that closed the main route in to Panguitch and spread smoke
over several hundred square miles. Our friend Wes, an excellent pilot
to my passable abilities, used his excellent judgement to determine that
attempting to fly in the unpredictable conditions as well as
occasionally blinding smoke was not the call to make. Realizing that
the weekend was not to be I puttered around the old house and fixed a
simple supper. On Sunday morning, somewhat disappointed I headed home
by car. Determined to make this a culinary success I stopped at a small
farm owned by the Quintana family on the way to my detour around the
fire. We have befriended them and often buy vegetables that they have
in their garden that we don't have in ours. I asked Nana Maria to taste
my tortillas. I asked if they tasted OK. Her response? "For you,
good. For (13-year-old granddaughter) Little Maria? She need to pay
attention and do better." Next time I will save my time and make the
fifteen minute drive north to buy a dozen of Little Maria's fresh corn
tortillas. Sorry, had to tell the story. Bottom line, authentic? At
least for Nana Quintana no. For the rest of us? I thought they were
pretty darn good.

There were a million people in Times Square on New Year's Eve and no one got injured, and police said there were "no major incidents to report". An estimated 40,000 in Old Sac and two people got killed, three injured. Really, Sacramento? Depressing.

Here's some news from the BPNA about the robberies. The Bee has not reported on it, at all as far as I've seen, so if it weren't for the Boulevard Park Neighborhood Association emails I would not know WTF was going on.

Hello Neighbors – Please pass this on to your neighbors and constituents -

I am back in town and wanted to touch base regarding the recent rash of robberies that Lt. Coopwood was keeping you abreast of.

Last weekend Officers
stopped a vehicle in the area that matched the description listed in Lt.
Coopwood’s email. The occupants of the vehicle were in possession of a
firearm and were booked into jail. It is
very likely that these suspects were responsible for, or involved in,
the armed robberies. Since their arrest, the armed robberies have
ceased (knock on wood). We have not been able to link them to a
specific robbery but the investigation continues.

This past weekend a man
was jumped while walking in the early morning hours in the area of
20/K. This crime was reported to us the following day. There was no
mention of a firearm and we do not believe that
it was related to the previous armed robberies.

As always, please
report any suspicious subjects you see in your neighborhood. If you
need to walk in the area in the very late evening hours (10:00 pm to
3:00 am) please be aware of your surroundings and walk
with a partner when possible.

It is our utmost
priority to ensure the safety of people walking in the area. For the
last two weeks, we have been deploying extra officers, utilizing a
variety of tactics, and this will continue for as long
as we can (we are constantly shuffling resources to manage different
issues in the City as they arise).

Happy New Year.

Ken Bernard

Captain, Central Command

Wow, these guys are real morons. Once they were hitting lots of people in the same car with the same clothes I realized we really dodged a bullet (literally) because if they are such fucking idiots that will make them more erratic and apt to do something illogical. I just emailed this Captain with an offer to at least identify the gun and the hat, if nothing else. The hat was pretty distinctive and I will be able to identify the gun, for sure. Maybe his voice as well, the biggest long shot is his face.

Still have not walked anywhere after dark yet.

After a day or two of total depression and not wanting to leave the house I feel better, but I have lost my false feeling that I am safe from whatever. That's OK, it was an illusion anyway. I might have already mentioned this, but ladies and dudes, don't assume you are safe walking because you stay alert, because if someone wants to fuck with you they can easily wait around a corner or run towards you. I always thought someone would start to trail me so that I could probably get away, but this is the dumb way for a criminal to do it, because you can, duh, get away. Also, working in pairs makes a lot of sense, so that's even harder to dodge.

But the real point is that if someone really targets you there is not a lot you can do. And they probably won't because the city is basically safe.